Robbie Stewart

Thanks for your reply, @droo. I neglected suspension before. It was an expensive lesson to learn. I think on my new bike I will let the people with the required skill like yourself do the job. I will play around on the already destroyed fork of my old bike to get to know the process rather and just fiddle for the sake of fiddling.

I just watched bits of this. Will need to focus and watch it calmly without distractions, but Dewald, I hope you recover fully and that this incident serves as the catalyst to get cycling safety reformed overall in SA.

I've watched a bunch of YouTube videos on suspension servicing for both shocks and forks and it really doesn't look difficult. I'm considering investing in all the needed tools such as a bike stand and the needed oils and greases and then do it myself. I'm not stressed about warranties. If I can save myself some cash doing the lowers and aircan services, then I can let the gurus service the dampers when the time comes. I have a combination of Fox and Rockshox forks and shocks on my bikes.

I was planning on a ride at Tokai this weekend, but seems like that is no longer an option. I am SOOO over this kuk. I know, we all are. But sheeez, something has to give, or maybe it's time to go into that valley with a sjambok and some other means of handing out a good pakslae.

You know me too well. I spent too much time in the air lately. So much so that I found a secret hole beside one of the tables that my bike chucked me into 🤣. Phoenix did ride well to be fair. Maybe I'm just getting old, because I was going too quick and my head was shaking so much I struggled to see the trail properly at times. DH was blown out after the recent WC DH held there, but it was a good run. I love that line. I reckon we'll ride there more often now that the group has some added e-bikes, and some peeps prone to regular cramps can ride up that mountain more than once . . .

We rode there on Saturday, getting full runs of Phoenix and DH in. Let's just say those trails need some love.

Knipe Racing. No need to go looking anywhere else. https://www.kniperacing.com/

I'm a bit of a data nerd, but I work with data so I suppose it comes naturally. I didn't know about intervals.icu allowing Excel tracking. Mmmmm.

I got doored circa 92 - 93 riding to school one morning. I was between the pavement and the cars to my right approaching the traffic light when suddenly the front passenger door flung open right ahead of me, and before the girl could exit I T-boned that door into oblivion. Apart from some grazes and road rash I was okay. My front wheel was bent, and so was the car door. I picked myself and my bike up, scolded the school girl for not looking and left, pushing my bike through the gates just on the other side of the traffic light. Don't know what happened to the car though. I was lucky.

I track my progress on Elevate. It helps to see where you are in relation to the same time in prior years. As can be seen in this graph, one crash and some rain and the steady gains plateau pretty quick.

didn't know carte blance was still a thing.

I am also chasing a lofty goal for the year, and at one stage I was more than a month's worth of riding ahead of the daily target. Then I got yeeted off the front of my bicycle into a hole I didn't see after landing a jump. That caused some minor unhappiness on my lower back after doing a full cartwheel and landing flat on my back. I have been mostly off the bike due to that for the last nearly 3 weeks since that fall, and I have only been riding again really since last Saturday, but still feeling the ribcage being unhappy with me. Lucky for me that off-time coincided with a rather large cold front that dumped half the Atlantic ocean on Cape Town and caused some flooding further east. It's time to stretch that lead back again, so the early mornings start in earnest again now.

You just motivated me to cut the arvie short and go for a ride. Ta.

There is, but this is a family friendly forum 🤫

Condolences to the family and friends of Calib de Kock. I pray they find some solace in this difficult time.

Santam. Specified for purchase value all risk. I've had claims for wheels and a fork, and they were paid out no questions.

It's all the good wine we have down here, you see. It makes us sleep longer. But then also, by the time the sun starts to peek over the mountains in the east down here in Slaap Stad, you Vaalies have been sitting in traffic for quite some time moaning about the glare of the morning sun in your eyes on the way to drop the kids at school. 😁

Come live in the Cape . . . I have yet to ride an early morning ride that is so cold my toes freeze. And I ride from around 5:30 am at least 3 times a week. I just wear one pair of socks and my feet are peachy every ride.

I was riding up one of the many climbs at Bottelary Hills and stopped to take a breather beneath a shady tree. A short while later a group of ladies come past me heading up the hill. They were being followed by a chap furiously pedalling up the hill as well. My boet and I start riding again as the chap comes past working hard to catch up to the ladies. That was when his hairy butt came into view. I lost all decorum and bellowed with laughter at this chap as I sped up to see what happened when he passed the ladies. He kept looking back in anger and annoyance at me while he just pedalled faster and caught up to the ladies. By then I was crying with laughter and had to stop riding. I'm not sure if he ever figured out what I was finding so funny. That was the day I got cured of the need to ever wear lycra.

You could also opt for a Marin Rift Zone 2. I know some people riding them and they all rave about their bikes. And don't stress the fork brand - Marzocchi is nothing but a renamed Fox 36 https://westdenecycles.co.za/product/marin-riftzone-2/

Neither. The suspension package on these bikes are rubbish. And better suspension always trumps whatever groupset you have. I would opt for the Specialized Stumpjumper EVO Alloy if you can spring the extra cash. I have one, and it is an absolute beast of a bike. In terms of suspension it comes with Fox 36 160mm up front and Fox Float X 150mm at the back. Yeah the SRAM NX groupset isn't the best, but you can upgrade that as time goes by. But for the money you get a very modern geo bike that is super customizable in terms of head set angles and BB height to get the perfect ride. As a bonus it also has downtube SWAT storage. https://www.specialized.com/za/en/stumpjumper-evo-comp-alloy/p/200529?color=336206-200529 But maybe I'm just biased.

This ☝🏻

Situational Awareness Level: POKOL

Welcome to the Bikehub @KyleDurh. I own two Specialized bikes. Camber and Stumpjumper EVO. The original components are okay and don't need upgrading unless they are worn. That will save some randelas at first. The best upgrade you can do is to get rid of the Roval wheels as soon as possible. Those are properly rubbish. The set I have on my Stumpy are super soft, and after only 6 months of riding I have already taken to the rear rim with a shifting spanner to get some serious dings out.

I'm guessing he was married. Sad all round. So many victims. no winners.